MINNEAPOLIS _ A perennial wheatgrass thought to be better for soil health is getting commercial backing from organic food maker Cascadian Farms and its parent company General Mills.
Cascadian Farms announced Tuesday a new partnership with The Land Institute to help commercialize and scale-up production of intermediate wheatgrass.
The crop's trademark name is Kernza and it is a wild relative of annual wheat. Kernza has a much deeper root system than common wheat. It has been shown to increase soil health, water retention, carbon capture (which is proposed as a way to slow accumulation of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere) and improve wildlife habitat surrounding its crop lands.
"The length, size, and long life of the roots enable the grain to provide measurable soil health benefits and drought resistance while preventing soil erosion and storing critical nutrients _ potentially turning agriculture into a soil-forming ecosystem," said Dr. Lee DeHaan, Lead Scientist at The Land Institute in a release.
General Mills, headquartered in suburban Minneapolis, bought Cascadian Farms _ maker of organic cereals and snack bars, frozen fruits and vegetables _ in 2000 as its first organic brand. Kernza has been commercially available in some niche markets but has so far lacked the support of a major company to assure farmers that there is a market for it.
General Mills is promising to buy an undisclosed amount of Kernza from The Land Institute, which it will use in its Cascadian Farms products. The grain is sweet and nutty-tasting, lending itself to cereals and snacks. This financial commitment from the company gives The Land Institute the market it needed to get commercial-scale farmers to plant the grain.
General Mills also agreed to give a $500,000 to the Forever Green Initiative at the University of Minnesota. This money will be used to conduct advanced research on Kernza's ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in food production and increase the grain's yields through breeding.
"We believe in the potential of this grain to make a positive ecological impact. And, this helps us live up to the expectation that our consumers have for Cascadian Farm and continue to be a pioneer in organic farming and land stewardship," said Carla Vernon, vice president of Cascadian Farm, in a release.
